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CSB and SJU highly rated in national rankings of liberal arts colleges by two magazines

CSB and SJU highly rated in national rankings of liberal arts colleges by two magazines

September 10, 2013

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University were highly rated in national rankings of liberal arts colleges by two magazines.

CSB and SJU were again ranked among the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the country in the U.S. News and World Report 2014 college rankings, released Tuesday, Sept. 10.

CSB and SJU were also ranked among the top 120 liberal arts colleges in the country in the 2013 Washington Monthly ratings, released Monday, Aug. 26.

U.S. News rankings

In the U.S. News rating of National Liberal Arts Colleges, SJU tied for 76th and CSB tied for 94th. U.S. News ranked 248 liberal arts colleges in total. The liberal arts rankings include colleges that emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the arts and sciences. Criteria for the rankings include graduation and retention rates, assessment by peers and counselors, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumnae/i giving.

The magazine listed CSB in a tie for sixth on the "Up-and-Coming" list of national liberal arts colleges. College administrators surveyed in spring 2013 were asked to nominate institutions that had "made the most promising and innovative changes in areas of academics, faculty, student life, campus or facilities." This is the fourth time in the last five years that CSB has been included on the "Up-and-Coming" list.

In addition, CSB was noted for a strong commitment to teaching, tying for 11th among 22 schools in the national liberal arts category. The magazine asked college presidents, provosts and academic deans to identify schools where the faculty "has an unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching."

The U.S. News rankings also included a list of schools with outstanding academic programs commonly linked to academic success. These programs were selected by education experts as key to providing undergraduate students with the best possible experiences. CSB and SJU were again recognized with 29 other institutions for the quality of their study abroad program (there were no numerical ratings for this category).

Washington Monthly rankings

Washington Monthly rated schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students); research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.D's); and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

In addition, the magazine launched a new set of rankings based on the economic value students receive per dollar. Called the Best Bang for the Buck listing, 349 schools out of the 1,572 colleges and universities in the magazine's broader ranking made this list.

CSB was ranked 38th among 70 liberal arts colleges listed as a best value. To be listed, at least 20 percent of the students attending a school had to be receiving Pell Grants; had to have a graduation rate of at least 50 percent; each school's actual graduation rate must meet or exceed the rate that would statistically predicted for the school given the number of lower-income students admitted; and schools must have a student loan default rate of 10 percent or less.

CSB and SJU are consistently highly ranked in a number of college guidebooks. See the CSB and SJU Admission pages for more details.